This Whole Imagery Thing...

I've always loved coming up with (and reading other people's) mental pictures of a name; what sort of person you see, how you would describe them, their personality and qualities, how they look/behave/live etc and I'm really curious to see what other people visualise when they see the names on my list. It's just a bit of fun really, though it's very interesting and I do tend to jot down the good associations I find

I understand many of you will find my favourites très plain and boring, but I'm open to positive & negative images and impressions of any kind- vague or clear, scarce or detailed. Anything sensual. Write as little or as much as you like, I'll appreciate it all. And it's just a short list, nothing too taxing I hope...

Maids:Rose--pretty, classicAlice--storybookMorwenna--I'd wonder if she was a good or evil witch.Eliza--classic, I love it w/Jane.Ruby--cute on an outgoing, precocious child. I don't think it ages well, though.

William: he's a bright-eyed mischief maker. Very loving and cuddly, has a huge heart Peter: sporty, jokester, class clown. Jock with a heart of gold route of guy.Thomas: serious and studious, with deep soulful eyes. Not depressed/antisocial, but much less prone to sillinessAlexander: i have a hard time picturing this, because its kind of an everyman's name. Any type of guy could be an Alexander.Henry: soft-spoken, not shy but slightly reserved. I picture curly brown hair with this name.Rose: a wildfire of a girl - she's fiercely loyal, loves with her whole heart, and never apologizes for being herself. She's a delight to be around.Alice: whimsical but studious. Alice is clever and witty and full of snark, but she's shy too.Morwenna: um I've never heard this before, and it feels a little out there. It reminds me of a girl i know named Lucinda, who is just kind of bizarre and no one knows what to think of her.Eliza: she's all spunk and sass. She's feminine, but hates wearing dresses. She probably wears glasses, and looks amazing in them. Ruby: she's a bit high-maintenance, a bit of a perfectionist. Feminine and frilly. She is a true friend to those she likes but can be a mean girl to those she doesn't.

William - Happy-go-lucky, likeable, always has a mischievous twinkle in his eyePeter - A bit stodgy, fond of button-downs, very chivalrousThomas 'Tom' - Same as Peter but with more of a rebellious sideAlexander 'Alec' - Alexander is charismatic, down to earth, extremely popular and smiley. Alec has more snark and kind of a hidden-jerk vibe.Henry - Sweet, sometimes hapless but very smart. A secret romantic.

Rose - Blandly nice, the face of a silent film star. Does ballet.Alice - Wears hipster glasses and lots of florals. Likes photography and landscape paintings. Has a canopy over her bed.Morwenna - Pale-skinned brunette. Loves kids and animals and they love her back. Has a hidden backbone of steel, always stands up for her beliefs.Eliza - Funny, adventurous and vivacious. Wore lots of overalls as a child. Always outside in the sun.Ruby - I tried to think of original imagery, but I can't shake the image of the vividly characterized Ruby from the book Imaginary Girls. Which is a weird book, but would make an excellent movie. Anyway, that Ruby is fiercely loyal, with charisma and a magnetic personality that borders on mind control, but has a hidden dark side.

Très plain, eh? Non non... All your boy names are names of people I know and who are very dear to me, so they're a tad tricky.

William - This is the name of someone I love very deeply, so it's hard for me to separate this and him. It is a dashingly romantic name, regal (duh!), masculine and über-handsome. William is someone woodsy and capable, someone caring and kind with a beautiful soul. Old, old forests, men in fur lined capes on beautiful horses riding through. Poetry, chamber music, chivalry, tales of French legends, torches, woolen throws and warmth.

Peter - Removing all the childhood Peter's out of my head (and there's a lot of them!). Peter's an eccentric, he's a writer with a mustache, a monocle and his dark long haired neatly tied back in a velvet bow. He hangs out in Soho, can spend hours in antique bookshops, climbing up and down the ladders looking for treasures. He's serious, but has a definite twinkle in his eye, he's charming, knowledgeable, funny, playful, weird and warm.

Thomas 'Tom' - Thomas sweet and beautiful with big curious eyes. He's a little brother, he loves spending time with his mummy and sisters, baking, drawing and throwing teaparties for his stuffed animals. He collects rocks and pebbles he finds when he's crab fishing, he loves everything and anything as long as it's tiny, he'll have a crying tantrum if someone kills a spider. He wants to be friends with everyone, especially the cows on the other side of the fence at the bottom of his garden, but they don't seem terribly interested which is difficult. Tom loves pirates, reading about them and dressing up as them. They're a bit scary too, but as long as he can sit on Mummy or Daddy's lap he's fine.

Alexander 'Alec' - Alexander's handsome, raised well and very English, with a bit of a temper. He loves cricket and rugby, goes to the pub every Sunday and takes his dog for long walks. He wears glasses, reads contemporary novels and science magazines, wears funky socks and trousers. He's charming, flirtatious, annoying and utterly lovely.

Maids:Rose - I always think of KateWinslet's stunning portrayal in Titanic when I think of Rose, so all the thing she was in the movie with a dash of As You Like It's Rosalind, and there you've got her! Now if you haven't seen Titanic or read As You Like It... Beautiful, spirited, a thinker, someone passionate, romantic, just, brave, elegant. Someone's who's all heart and feelings, someone artistic, creative, non judgmental, open, caring, kind, wild, free.

Alice - AliceAliceAlice. Alice causes the same problems as Peter did, it's so attached to childhood literature for me I can't think clearly! but I'll try. Alice is a summer child. She runs though meadows with her blonde hair flowing in the wind. She loves picnics, in the gardens, by the lake, in her tent in the sitting room. She's very careful and thorough, she takes very good care of all her possessions. Blue silk ribbons in her that comes undone at the end of the school day, her uniform askew, kneesocks by her ankles. She'll sob for hours when her beautiful red sequin shoes get dirty. She loves fish and insists on touching their eyes and tongues before they go in the oven.

Morwenna - She's basically how I see Morgana; a dark haired stormy soul, dancing and balancing on Cornish cliffs. She's most alive outside, howling in the wind, her skirts blowing around her legs and her her whipping her face. A wild creature, someone a bit different, someone who runs outside when it starts to rain to feel the water on her skin, jumps into the ocean with a wild laugh. She's a bit moody, she likes to be alone, but she's loveable and the life of the party when she shows up. She wears heavy jewellery, thick eyeliner and reads tarot cards. Her house is full of dream catchers and homemade candles.

Eliza - Eliza's serious, passionate and articulated. Someone artistic, maybe she makes dainty delicate gilded porcelain teacups or something like that. Eliza lives in a little ivy covered Dorset cottage. In her garden you'll find roses, hydrangeas, petunias, honeysuckle and a wide range of herbs and vegetables. Her home is warm and welcoming, it smells of cinnamon and vanilla, there's always a candle lit and the guest bed is always made up for surprise visitors. She's got two cats called Austen and Bronte. She's an excellent baker, she makes fabulous and scrumptious sandwiches served on beautiful rose painted plates in the garden. In the evening she lights all her Chinese paper lanterns and her little garden turns into faerieland, where she serves her guests delicious raspberry Eton Mess and rose champagne.

Ruby - Ruby's a round cheeked little girl, blonde hair in pigtails. She's a tough, wild little one, she loves climbing trees, fishing, playing hide and seek in the poppy fields. There's a little bridge by her house where she loves playing poohsticks with her little sister. She's obsessed with tutus and dresses, she wants to wear them all the time even when jumping in muddle puddles, and she's always got a little bag across her body where she keeps her most precious little items she wants to keep hidden from her little sister. She's sensitive, cuddly, curious.